Medical imaging devices are well known to those skilled in the art. Such systems typically use the transmission and reflection of radiation to detect the internal structure underlying the skin. Thermographic techniques are also extensively utilized in the interrogation of human tissue, which detect the differences in temperature and the different tissue types in the body portions examined. Such system typically utilizes infrared radiation detectors to detect the different degrees of infrared radiation emitted by heated bodies. Images are also generated by such systems by using visible and infrared radiation. Still further, ultraviolet (UV) radiation is frequently utilized for purposes of defining an area of malignancy/anomaly for surgery, as well as detect the presence of early cancerous and pre-cancerous tissues.
Notwithstanding their utility, most imaging systems in use today are typically specific to limited spectral bands. In this respect, imaging systems are typically dedicated to a select spectral band, for example, visible or infrared, and thus can only be utilized for limited types of procedures. For example, thermographic techniques must typically be performed via infrared radiation imaging systems, whereas techniques requiring the application of UV radiation, as is frequently utilized in certain tumor screening procedures, must necessarily be performed with a dedicated UV imaging system.
While attempts have been made to develop imaging systems that are capable of using a radiation/light source having wavelengths covering a particular spectral band, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,615 to Carroll entitled Apparatus and Method for Detecting Tumors and U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,493 to Giannini et al. entitled Multiple Wavelencth Light Photometer for Non-Invasive Monitoring, such systems nonetheless cover exceptionally narrow spectral bands. For example, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,515,615 is designed to cover wavelengths ranging only from 400 nanometers to 4,000 nanometers. Similarly, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,493 is limited to covering wavelengths ranging from approximately 750 nanometers to 900 nanometers.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a medical imaging system that is designed to accommodate an imaging spectrum that spans from the ultraviolet through visible mid and longwave infrared wavelengths. In this regard, it would be advantageous to provide an imaging system that, by virtue of its capability to accommodate and provide image processing for several spectral regions, is capable of providing diagnostic medical imaging in a multimode, multifunctional manner that eliminates the need for multiple prior art imaging systems designed to accommodate specific, narrow spectral bands. Specifically, it would be advantageous to provide a single imaging system for use in diagnostics, intraoperative procedure control and monitoring, as well as effective early detection of tumors and the like that currently must be performed by a plurality of imaging systems. There is still further a need for a multifunctional, multispectral imaging system that is capable of being utilized in a wide variety of medical applications that is readily adaptable to existing technology that further lowers the cost and provides the equivalent or greater reliability of most medical imaging systems currently in use.